Presently, I am running a Macbook Pro from 2007 and it is showing its age. My internal hard drive is essentially full and I am cobbling by on a multitude of external hard drives (mostly FireWire). Everything is backed up, except for what is on the current memory cards. Due to the lack of on-board storage and other issues, downloading the current memory cards for sorting and storage is becoming a huge pain and I am just putting it off. This is all just personal and family stuff, no work for hire.
I am now thinking of getting a new computer and looking for advice on building a set-up. I am fine with Mac or PC, desktop or laptop. I am not too excited about the current Macbook Pros. The price is higher than I'd like to pay, especially considering that Apple seems to continually be removing features and ports rather than adding them. I don't need a laptop for travel, but I might like portability to work in various rooms or floors of the house. However, practicality dictates that at least one monitor, external hard drives, printers, etc., will all be set up in one workstation in the home office, so a desktop system might be best.
Photos: I currently shoot JPEG with minimal post-processing, but I would like to start using a photo editing/management software program (i.e. Lightroom) to do some nondestructive post-processing of RAW files on occasion as well. I don't have such a program now, and my files have been manually sorted into folders by "year\event" subfolders. It is time-consuming to do on the import side, but it seems future-proof and kept me from getting locked into a software library before I knew what I was doing.
Videos: I have a Canon HV20, which is an older tape-based digital camcorder. I desperately need a set-up that will allow me to easily import video from tapes shot on this, get it archived/backed up onto hard drives, and also edited onto DVDs. I have tapes from my wedding and the first 5 years of my kid's life and milestones, none of which have been backed up, most of which have not even been viewed lately, although the camera still shoots and plays back fine. I will eventually switch to a card-based digital camcorder or a DSLR for video purposes, but the current video situation is more important right now.
What would you recommend for computer hardware (brands, models, processors, memory, hard drives, back-ups etc) and software (programs, versions, subscription or not)? Huge bonus points for hardware that I can purchase via Best Buy, since I have their credit card and will probably get this paid off on a zero percent interest deal. Budget is also an issue, as I'd like to keep the whole setup between $1k to $2k US.
My photo and video gear is as follows:
Short version: Based on the gear above, what computer hardware and software would you recommend for personal photo and video work, costing between $1k to $2k US?
I'm asking here because I know we have some folks who are both knowledgeable and practical, and I'm looking for realistic ideas that a regular person can afford. Thank you to all, any advice is appreciated.
I am now thinking of getting a new computer and looking for advice on building a set-up. I am fine with Mac or PC, desktop or laptop. I am not too excited about the current Macbook Pros. The price is higher than I'd like to pay, especially considering that Apple seems to continually be removing features and ports rather than adding them. I don't need a laptop for travel, but I might like portability to work in various rooms or floors of the house. However, practicality dictates that at least one monitor, external hard drives, printers, etc., will all be set up in one workstation in the home office, so a desktop system might be best.
Photos: I currently shoot JPEG with minimal post-processing, but I would like to start using a photo editing/management software program (i.e. Lightroom) to do some nondestructive post-processing of RAW files on occasion as well. I don't have such a program now, and my files have been manually sorted into folders by "year\event" subfolders. It is time-consuming to do on the import side, but it seems future-proof and kept me from getting locked into a software library before I knew what I was doing.
Videos: I have a Canon HV20, which is an older tape-based digital camcorder. I desperately need a set-up that will allow me to easily import video from tapes shot on this, get it archived/backed up onto hard drives, and also edited onto DVDs. I have tapes from my wedding and the first 5 years of my kid's life and milestones, none of which have been backed up, most of which have not even been viewed lately, although the camera still shoots and plays back fine. I will eventually switch to a card-based digital camcorder or a DSLR for video purposes, but the current video situation is more important right now.
What would you recommend for computer hardware (brands, models, processors, memory, hard drives, back-ups etc) and software (programs, versions, subscription or not)? Huge bonus points for hardware that I can purchase via Best Buy, since I have their credit card and will probably get this paid off on a zero percent interest deal. Budget is also an issue, as I'd like to keep the whole setup between $1k to $2k US.
My photo and video gear is as follows:
- Primary stills: Canon 6D, and I'd like to upgrade to the 6DII or 5DIV someday.
- Glass: Decent mix of L and quality non-L lenses.
- Other stills: Canon Rebel t1i, Powershot G1X, and a few Elphs.
- Video camera: Canon HV20, to be replaced with another camcorder or a DSLR as funds allow.
- Printers: Canon Pro-100 for 8x10 and larger, an older PIXMA for 4x6s, and an older HP all-in-one for documents.
- Scanners: Canon P-150 for documents, and I intend on adding a new flatbed dedicated to prints and negatives.
Short version: Based on the gear above, what computer hardware and software would you recommend for personal photo and video work, costing between $1k to $2k US?
I'm asking here because I know we have some folks who are both knowledgeable and practical, and I'm looking for realistic ideas that a regular person can afford. Thank you to all, any advice is appreciated.